I wrote this about five years ago. I just saw a post from a dear, dear former student who is having a love affair with Art History that reminds me of my own. I'm so happy for her, and it reminded me that I had written this after a trip to DC with some dear AP Art History students. This is for you Lauren, Kailey, Cassidy....
What a welcoming, heartwarming and good-for-the-soul feeling it is to see not just one old friend, but hundreds of them. There is the instant moment of recognition, followed by that warm, coming-home rush of emotion. It is, for me, like falling into an incredibly cosy chair, in front of a fire, with a blanket and a good book. You can’t get any cozier than that. Well, I suppose you could, if the friends were real flesh and blood friends. These friends of mine are of the real paint and canvas variety and of stone, bronze, and pencil and paper, hard work and inspiration.
What a welcoming, heartwarming and good-for-the-soul feeling it is to see not just one old friend, but hundreds of them. There is the instant moment of recognition, followed by that warm, coming-home rush of emotion. It is, for me, like falling into an incredibly cosy chair, in front of a fire, with a blanket and a good book. You can’t get any cozier than that. Well, I suppose you could, if the friends were real flesh and blood friends. These friends of mine are of the real paint and canvas variety and of stone, bronze, and pencil and paper, hard work and inspiration.
Those are the feelings that I had recently at the National
Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Five high school students and I drove seven hours to spend one night and
two days at the National Gallery. These
students either had taken or are taking Advanced Placement Art History with
me.
We saw hundreds of works of art. We saw the entire museum, actually- in seven and a half
hours over the course of two days.
I travel quite a bit, and so I am quite used to my reunions with well-loved
works of art. I experience them, most of the time, as a warm glow, and a sort
of “there you are again! Oh, it’s good to see you…” feeling. The students however, experienced
their first reunion. I won’t say that they
met the works of art for the first time, as they did that with their
twelve pound art history book, and in slides and videos at school. They truly were moved to be
encountering their ‘friends’ face to face.
It was not the sort of reaction that so many museumgoers
exhibit, where they rush up to a masterpiece, stare for a minute,
uncomprehendingly, and then rush off to find the next famous painting- just so
they can say they saw it. You are
not really making a friend like that.
How can you get to know a work of art in several seconds? It is like the
phony air-kiss greetings that society matrons might grace someone with- they do
not really know them but they want to leave a good impression.
No, these students really cared about what they were seeing. The looks on their faces were magical
as they turned quietly from one gallery into the next. A wondrous look of awe
would come over their face as they realized that here, here! Right in front of me! was Van Eyck’s Woman
with a Veil, or: (reverent whisper) “Oh Mrs. Gant! Look! Is that Bellini’s Feast of the Gods?!”
“It’s Van Gogh! I didn’t
know he would be here!” One girl, a dancer, had to text message
her mother in NC when she saw Degas’ Little
Dancer. She was so overcome with emotion she had tears in her
eyes. The hand shaking, frantic
eye rolling or just plain deep furrowed brows were comical to watch after I
asked questions pertaining to our studies. “Do you remember what this kind of lighting
is called?” “What characteristics
make this a Mannerist painting?”
“Oh! Oh! I know this!” And they did.
With deep appreciation and a mature excitement, they walked
from room to room with me. We
shared opinions about what we liked and didn’t like. More importantly, they
could tell me why. We walked through some galleries a bit more quickly, and
lingered for ages in front of others. “There is David’s portrait of
Napoleon! Look! I would like
to introduce you to the only Da Vinci in America! “Oh. My. Gosh! Is that
a Rembrandt?” All along, I had my private
little moments of deep satisfaction and soul feeding as I encountered old
friends. The nice thing about old
friends is that you can know them for a long time and then still learn
something new about them.
Currently I am enjoying a deeper interest in Dutch
paintings. I stood in front of
Vermeer’s “Girl With a Hat” up close, wishing I could get closer, even touch it
as one of my students kept wishing she could do. I have always wondered if the
little dashes of white on the tips of noses were one of the last things Vermeer
painted. I stood in front of
Italian miniatures from the Getty museum, and marveled at the application of
gold leaf and intricate, entwined designs. I stood in front of Magritte’s
“Human Condition” for probably the fourth or fifth time, and this time I feel
like I “got it” more than any other time. What an ingenious title! I shared with the students my
interpretation. One of them came
up to me later and had bought the print “because you inspired me.” I didn’t do anything. Magritte was the magic-maker.
You know you have a truly good friend if you can pick right
off where you left off last time. In other words, you can sit right down and
jump into an intimate conversation- after three months, two years, even five,
as in my case! I hope the
soul, spirit and mental refreshing that I
experienced was also experienced by my students.
